AGRICULTURAL BOTANY. 427 



From the results obtained, there does not appear to be any general correla- 

 tion between the total sugar content of the sweet potato and its respiratory 

 activity. A simultaneous decrease in the reducing-sugar content and the respi- 

 ratory activity in given lots of roots is said to indicate a correlation between 

 reducing sugar content and respiration, but seasonal changes and environmental 

 conditions to which the sweet potatoes have been previously subjected are be- 

 lieved to tend to obscure any such correlation in different lots. Experiments 

 with wounded roots indicated that the sugar content was not the limiting factor 

 in the respiration of the sweet potato. The reducing sugars are said to be the 

 immediate source of respiratory material. Cane sugar was found to be rela- 

 tively stable in the sweet potato, and when once formed, it did not appear to be 

 readily utilized in the process of respiration, while starch and other carbohy- 

 drates are present in abundance. 



Studies on chicory, V. Gkafe (Biochem. Ztschr., 68 (1915), No. 1-2, pp. 1-22, 

 fig. 1; abs. in Jour. Chem. Soc. [London], 108 {1915), No. 630, I, p. 200).— The 

 author has followed up work done in connection with Vouk as previously re- 

 ported (E. S. R., 31, p. 224), and claimed to have thrown new light on the 

 analogies between starch and inulin, with studies on the metabolism of inulin 

 by plants. 



It was found that a high percentage of water in the soil in which chicory is 

 grown lowers the inulin content. This is, on the other hand, somewhat height- 

 ened by extreme dryness of the soil. 



Investigations on the nature of the bitter principle of chicory gave no abso- 

 lutely pure product, but evidence was obtained to the eifect that this principle is 

 essentially neither alkaloid nor tannin, but a glucosid, the character and rela- 

 tions of which are discussed. The empyreumatic oil given up by chicory ap- 

 pears to be analogous to that of coffee, but of different constitution. 



Study of the plantlets shows a certain parallelism between the intake of 

 mineral substances and the formation of organic compounds. It is thought 

 possible that lime and magnesia play a certain part in the condensation processes 

 in the plant. 



The physiolog'ical value of the reserve in chestnut seeds, C. ]\Ia:xicaedi 

 (Stas. Sper. Agr. Ital., 47 {19U), No. 8, pp. 633-636).— In a preliminary note on 

 a study of chestnut seeds and seedlings the author states that the amount of 

 reserve material present in such seeds is always strongly in excess of the re- 

 quirement of normal germination. The action of this reserve in germination is 

 limited to the development of the root, but the plantlet is able to live for a 

 certain length of time by means of photosynthetie assimilation alone. 



Translocation of mineral constituents of seeds and tubers of certain plants 

 during growth, G. D. Buckner (U. S. Dept. Agr., Jour. Agr. Research, 5 (1915), 

 No. 11, pp. ^J/9-Jf58). — The results of an investigation on the translocation of the 

 mineral matter contained in the seeds and tubers of garden beans, corn, and 

 potatoes are given, the experiments having been carried on at the Kentucky 

 Experiment Station. So far as the present account is concerned, the transloca- 

 tion of phosphorus, calcium, potassium, magnesium, and silicon is reported upon. 



The results obtained show that during the growth of the seedlings there is 

 considerable retention of mineral matter, varying from 46.66 per cent in the 

 garden bean and 38.66 in corn to 50.33 in the potato tuber. There were no strik- 

 ing differences observed in the quantities of the several mineral constituents 

 translocated, and no marked selective influence was shown by the roots, stems, 

 or leaves of the growing plants for any particular mineral reserve material con- 

 tained in the seed or tuber. 



